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Journalist Fabrizio Romano has offered an update on Sadio Mane's situation at Liverpool.
The Italian journalist dropped a bombshell on Sunday as he reported that Mane has made up his mind about leaving the Merseysiders this summer. Romano claimed that Mane is keen on a new challenge with Bayern Munich eyeing his signature.
Romano has now shed more light on Sadio Mane's situation at the Merseyside club in his column for Anfield Watch. He insisted that Mane had made up his mind earlier but did not want to disrupt the team by conveying his wish. In his column, Romano wrote:
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"Sadio Mane has made his decision to leave Liverpool immediately without waiting for the summer of 2023, when his contract will officially expire. A choice that will be communicated to the club through the agents of the Senegalese star, but which is already known within Liverpool."
He added:
"Mane did not want to disturb his teammates, Klopp and the entire club before the Champions League final. But, his decision was not in doubt because Sadio wants to try a different experience."
Romano stated that the Reds are happy to accept Mane's decision to leave, but only if they receive a reasonable offer, writing:
"Of course Mane will have respect for Liverpool and everything will depend on the negotiations, but the club's intention is to try to accept Mane's decision and sell him as long as the right proposal arrives. FC Bayern are serious contenders because they have wanted Sadio for months."
He also claimed that the Reds want a centre-forward this summer. With Luis Diaz doing well on the left flank, Mane was pushed into the centre-forward role. If he leaves, the Reds will sign a new attacker.
Romano wrote:
"They have explored this possibility already in recent weeks and prepared an initial proposal. Timing will be very important. FC Bayern have an interest in speeding up the negotiations because other top clubs could soon join the race, while Liverpool want to resolve this situation as soon as possible to find a replacement for Sadio Mane."
He added:
"The club's intention is in fact to buy a new striker because Luis Diaz is performing at excellent levels, of course - but Mane will be replaced in case of departure. The discussion is already on the table internally and it will soon be time for decisions."
Can Liverpool cope without Sadio Mane?
It will be a monumental task for Jurgen Klopp's side to replace Mane. He has scored 120 goals and made 48 assists in 269 appearances for Liverpool in all competitions. He has also played in all three positions in attack, showing his versatility.
Hence, it will be tough to replace him but the Reds have shown in the past that they are good at finding a solution.
They have dealt with the departures of key players like Philippe Coutinho, Georginio Wijnaldum and Emre Can quite well in the past.
Liverpool have an exceptional scouting and data analytics team that helped them unearth gems like Mane in the first place. With Klopp at the helm, fans have no reason to be concerned.
